INSECT
ADJECTIVES
► CRAWLY covered with insects, or as if covered with insects; creepy; uncomfortable → 1857 Amer. dial.
NOUNS
► ARITHMETIC BUG a louse or other verminous insect → 1920 US sl.
► B a bug → M19 sl.
► BEEZER-WEEZER an insect that sits in trees or bushes in hot weather and makes a sharp, buzzing sound; probably a cicada → 1970 Amer. dial.
► B FLAT a bug; a bedbug → 1853
► BOB a small insect, a louse, a beetle → 1898 Eng. dial. (Bk.)
► BOSOM FRIENDS lice; parasitic insects → 19C sl.
► BUG JUICE 1. an insecticide or insect repellent → 1944 Amer. dial.
2. the saliva or squashed remains of insects → 1967 Amer. dial.
► BUGOLOGY the science of bugs or insects → 1843 US humorous
► BUMBLER any insect which makes a buzzing or humming sound, as a fly → 1876 Eng. dial.
► BUMMER a bumblebee; any insect which makes a buzzing or humming sound → 1822
► CHINCH a bedbug → 20C US sl.
► CHIZZLE BOBS the bugs found under decaying wood or old bricks, etc. → 19C Eng. dial.
► CLINKERS insects → 1895 Amer. dial.
► CREEPER a creeping insect or reptile; a louse → 1577
► CREEPERS body lice, bedbugs, fleas, etc.; anything that makes your flesh creep when they creep over your flesh → 19C Brit. sl.
► CREEPY-CRAWLY any insect or similar small creeping creature considered as disagreeable or frightening → 1858 sl.
► ENEMY an insect; an ant → Bk1900 Sc. & Eng. dial.
► ENTOMOMANIA an abnormal love of insects → 1991 (Bk.)
► ENTOMOPHOBIA an abnormal fear of insects → 1991 (Bk.)
► FLY any winged insect; as the bee, gnat, locust, moth, etc. → c950 obs.
► MESEE a midge or ‘no-see-em’ → 1927 Amer. dial.
► MYSE a biting insect, as a gnat or a midge → a1450 obs.
► NO-SEE-UM any small, nearly invisible insect that bites → 1842 US sl.
► PRICKLE the sting of an insect → c1425 obs.
► PUNAISE a bedbug; also, of various kinds of bug or similar insect → c1530 obs.
► QUICK an insect → Bk1905 Eng. dial.
► QUICKLING a young insect → Bk1905 Eng. dial.
► SMUT a very minute insect → 1899
► STRADDLE-BUG a long-legged beetle; any long-legged insect → 1831 Eng. & Amer. dial.
► TANG the tongue of a serpent, formerly thought to be the stinging organ; the sting of an insect → a1350 obs. exc. Eng. dial.
► WANT-LOUSE a bedbug, a bug → 1655 obs.
► WATER BUG a cockroach, esp. a large one, or a similar insect → 1875 Amer. dial.
► WOG any insect, esp. a predatory or disagreeable one → 1938 Aust. sl.
NOUNS – PERSON
► BEETLE JOSEPH an entomologist → Bk1940 Eng. public school sl.
► BEETLE-STICKER a jocular name for an entomologist → 1873
► BUG-HUNTER an entomologist → 1889 jocular
► BUGOLOGIST an entomologist → 1901 US humorous
► MOCH-MAN a jocular term for an entomologist (moch = moth) → 1961 Sc.
► MOTH-HUNTER an entomologist who studies moths → 1937 obs.
VERBS
► TANG to sting as a serpent or an insect → a1400 obs. exc. Eng. dial.
Lexicophilia 